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Show THE POTATOK riLIGIIT IN IRELAND. IRE-LAND. The London Daily Nctos of August 2G;h has the following in its editorial columns: Confirmatory reports of the existence of a potatoe blight in Ireland continue to resell us. 'j'ho disease, ai usual, manifests itself first in the fields by the coast, gradually extending into the interior in-terior of the country. Speculations as to its cause and origin aro generally vague and unsatisfactory, but it has been of'tcu observed that tho plague comes in a cloud, the doomed garden being covered with a thick fog at evening, and in the morning exhibiting rows of blackened, shrunken stalks, while a peculiar stifling odor arises from them, which may bo recogn'zed at a long dislauco. This phenomenon may be compared to the "cholera mist," and any theory deiived from it only accepted for what it is worth; but a belief in tho fact is universal among the Munster farmers. Already, it is stated, the blight bus shown itself in Tipperary and in Cork. Once it seizes on a district there is no hopo whatever for the crop. The common practice is to dig, or rather plow out Llio potatoes immediately; but then, as they arc unripe, they become unwholesome food in a tew days. Indeed, In-deed, one great mischief which arises from tho disease is caused by the people peo-ple eating tho potatoes in an unfit condition. con-dition. The bad potatoes are sold at almost nominal prices, ostensibly as food for pigs, but at the risk of health aro used by the peasantry fur household house-hold consumption. It is fortunate that the cereal crops in Ireland have been heavy above tlie avcrago this year. The best accounts aro received from the corn-growing counties, and Ireland is not so do- I pendent now as formerly upou the po-tatoe po-tatoe as the staple food of the poorer, inhabitants. |
